


The ravens thief

by Jinral



Category: Thief (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Growing Up, Other, parenting, raising of birds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-28
Updated: 2014-10-28
Packaged: 2018-02-22 23:37:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2525870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jinral/pseuds/Jinral
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Garrett has only ever taken care of himself. Looks like times are changing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please pardon any bad writing and or typos/missing words. Still new to all this here. I hope everyone can still enjoy the story.

Garrett sat wrapped in a blanket on the ground by his fire basket to try to escape the chilly air. Winter decided to stick around longer than usual this year, but that didn't seem to stop a family of ravens from making a nest on one of the beams near his bed. He hadn’t noticed them until one day, the clock tower was filled with the loud squabbles that came from it. It was starting to cause problems.

After days of little sleep, Garrett was left fighting with himself about trying to get rid of them somehow. But he didn't have the heart to chase off the parents and allow them to leave their young for dead. He also didn't quite want to risk losing an eye in the process, so he would just have to put up with the noise until they left. But next time he would have to chase off any birds before they built a nest.

He felt himself nodding off as he sat in the warm presence of the fire.

_No, not here._

The birds were quiet now. Maybe he could manage to get some sleep in his bed before they started up again, even if it was still a bit early for him to be sleep.

Still wrapped in his blanket, he stood himself up and made his way down the stairs after dousing the fire. Can't leave that going and have something happen to cause it to catch his home on fire.

With a flop, he curled up inside his blanket with his head rested on a pillow and began to drift into a deep sleep.

Suddenly, the sounds of squawking and cawing sent him jolting awake. He was about ready to run upstairs and shout at them to shut up until he noticed that the squawking was different than usual. It sounded angry and was followed by the sounds of flittering.

Feeling curious, he climbed out of his bed and made his way up the stairs to investigate.

There was something wrong. Feathers were covering the ground and two of the young birds were laying dead on the ground. What was going on?

He looked up and saw a black mass lifting something out of the nest and tossing it to the side. There was screeching and then silence as the young bird fell down the to the bottom of the clock tower. He felt bad for it, but there was nothing he could do.

"Kraa!"

He focused his attention back on the nest and saw the attacking raven making for something else in the nest. There must have been more still alive.

Without even realizing it he found himself climbing ontop of a barrell and reaching over to the raven and waving it off furiously. It didn't seem to care until it took a moment to look at him. There was a pause that felt like an eternity as they both made eye contact. Garrett blinked and shoved the bird off the beam and watched it catch it's balance and fly off. 

He shook his head to get rid of the strange feeling left behind after that moment and reached over to the nest to feel inside. There was a squawk and Garrett felt his hand touch something small and covered in what felt like straw.

He lifted it up and out of the nest and found himself holding the only survivor left.

"You should consider yourself lucky I saved your life despite all the sleep I have lost." He said down to it. It only looked up in fear. Having been attacked by a bird that was not one of its parents was alarming and now there was something else holding it. Something big.

"Wait. What am I supposed to do with you now? I doubt your parents will be coming back after this. that is, if they are alive."

Feeling alarmed by the sudden realization that he had no idea what to do, he made his way downstairs and grabbed an empty bird cage by his bed and set the young bird inside.

"Uh, you stay there, I'll be back in a bit." He said as he put a few pieces of cloth inside around the bird and then closed the door on the cage.

He then made his way to the window and began to climb down. He needed to find a book or something on how to care for young birds. That is, if there were any.

* * *

 

There was a light drizzle as Garrett made his way back home. He had a small journal that he acquired from a bird breeder in his hands that he took to reading on trip.

_Good thing I picked up a few things while I was out. This is going to be a long couple of weeks._

This was the first time he was going to be taking care of anything other than himself. Even if he wasn't planning on keeping it for long he still found himself curious about the experience of taking care of an animal.

He had stolen a good size bag of seed from the same place he stole the journal. If that didn't make the bird happy, he would just have to see if dried meat or bread would.

When he arrived at the clock tower he climbed his way back up. A few times he thought he heard the rustle of feathers come close to his head, but when he looked there was nothing there. That made him paranoid. Was the other bird still around somewhere? And was it messing with him?

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He needed to concentrate on climbing rather than imaginary sounds. He climbed in through the window and looked around. No birds were to be seen and he made his way down to his bed. The cage was untouched and the young bird still laid inside. It looked like it had fallen asleep while he was gone.

"That took me longer than I thought. I'll probably have to try and feed you now."

He opened the door and reached his hand inside. The bird was still a little warm and he could feel it move its head as he touched it. Good. It was still alive. He lifted it up and set it down on one of his extra pillows before getting a handful of seed out of the bag.

"Now please don't make this difficult."

He pinched some seeds in his fingers and held it out above the birds head. It looked up at his hand for a few moments before it opened its beak.

"Good."

He carefully let the seeds drop into the birds mouth and watched as it swallowed and opened its beak up for more.

"You recovered from what happened fast, it seems."

He continued to feed the bird until it stopped opening its beak and laid its head down to take a nap.

"That sounds like a good idea, but I should probably read a bit more before I do the same."

He reached over to the journal and opened it up where he left off reading. Taking care of birds didn't seem to be too hard. It was having to wake up every few hours to feed that was going to be difficult. Keeping himself from nodding off while reading was already hard itself.

He looked down at the bird still sleeping on his pillow. It would still be some time before it was ready to eat again. He could just put it back in the cage while he took a nap himself until then.

He cupped his hands around the bird and lifted it up to place inside the cage, but suddenly it didn't seem to like the idea of being put inside and began to screech loudly. Maybe if he put it inside and left it there for a bit it would stop.

Half an hour passed and the bird still screeched inside the cage. That idea failed. What now? Would it stay on the pillow if he left it there? What if it rolled off into a bad stop and he accidentally crushed it?

Before he could think of more bad scenarios, he got up and looked for a small opened crate to set it in. Maybe it would like that more. There was one more thing he could put in too.

He walked up stairs to the nest and climbed on top of the barrel and grabbed the nest off the beam. perhaps it would be more comfortable in its nest. If it was, then he could finally get some sleep.

The bird was still screeching at him until he opened the door and lifted it out gently.

"Please stop so I can sleep."

He placed it inside the nest and laid it down in the crate. Finally. Silence. Now he just needed to make sure it stayed warm. He grabbed the cloth he put in the cage and laid it on top of the bird as a blanket. Now it was time to finally sleep himself. Hopefully that other bird wouldn't find its way onto his bed to finish the the job. He might not wake up fast enough to realize what is going on. That made him a little paranoid.

"Maybe I should put something over the crate to hide you better."

He grabbed part of his blanket and set it on top. That might help if the other bird was stupid enough to not look under it, but there wasn't much else he could think to do. Sleep was tugging at him too much and he couldn't stay awake anymore. Daylight was starting to shine through the clock tower as He laid his head down on his pillow and closed his eyes. It didn't take long this time to drift off into a deep sleep.

* * *

 

Garrett managed to sleep a few hours before the loud squawking woke him up. The bird must have been starving with how determined it was to wake him. He could hear it shuffling around inside the box and the top of the blanket would poke up here and there.

"Alright, hold on!"

He pushed himself upright with his arms and looked for the bag of seed.

_What?_

There was seed scattered all over the ground and the bag had been drug a few feet from where he had left it. How did he sleep through that? Did someone break into the clock tower?

He looked closer at the ground and saw a few black feathers laying on the ground. So the other bird was still around after all. That couldn’t be good. He lifted the sheet up off the crate and looked at the bird. It was untouched, but its squawking got louder when it saw him. He picked the bird up in his hands and set it in his lap and looked down at the seed. A lot had fallen through the gaps in the wood.

"I should probably get you some water too."

He got up and walked up the stairs with the bird in his hand. Leaving it alone didn't feel like a safe idea if the other bird showed evidence of still being around. He needed to keep it in his sight just in case.

He had a few barrels upstairs that he stored water in that he could put in a bowl for it. He set the bird down as he grabbed a bowl and scooped some water up in it. The bird only looked at it for a second before looking back up at him with it’s mouth open.

“What? You want me to help you drink too?”

The bird only made light screeches as it held its mouth open.

“I’ll have to feed you dried meat for now”

He walked over to where he stored his food and grabbed an unopened box of dried meat and started to break it into smaller pieces so the bird could swallow it without a problem. It still held its mouth opened as he came back and he held a small piece out for it. With a quick swallow, the bird opened it’s mouth again for more.

“As soon as you are done I am going back to sleep.”

Once feeding was taken care of, Garrett grabbed a small teaspoon and scooped some water out for the bowl and held out to the bird. It opened its mouth once more and he let the water drip into it’s mouth. It's lack of feathers made the bird look really odd to him. That gave him an idea.

“I think I will call you Ugly for now until I come up with a proper name.”

He gave the bird a few more spoonfuls of water until it was done drinking, then picked it up and walked back downstairs. Along the way, he picked up a few pieces of wood and a brick and set the bird back inside the box. He wanted to cover the top better so the other bird didn’t come to kill it. But somehow, he got a feeling the bird didn’t care as much about it anymore. It started to feel like it had plans for something else.

Garrett shook his head. No. It was just a simple bird. Nothing to worry about. What he needed to think about was sleep. He laid down on his bed and curled up under his blanket. Cleaning up the seed could wait until later.

The creaking of the gears in the clock tower quickly lulled him to sleep and soon he found himself dreaming about running amongst the thieves highway on a fresh warm night. There were plenty of houses that needed some ‘spring cleaning.’

 


	2. Chapter 2

A few weeks had passed now. Garrett sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes. There was a ball of movement beside him and he looked down to be greeted by the bird with a few drowsy blinks. It had grown most of its feathers now and the crate became useless once he learned how to hop out of it. He quickly took to sleeping next to his head and nearly got crushed a few times when he would roll over in his sleep. The only thing that stopped him was loud screeching before Garrett realized what was going on. At least it didn’t take long to get used to the extra presence.

The wind blew against the side of the clock tower causing it to creak as Garrett stretched and swung his legs over the side of the bed to stand up. It was warmer today and due time for a night out on the town. Basso might have something good this time.

He made for his gear and after a everything appeared in order he was ready to climb out of the window, but a screech made him stop at the stairs. He looked over at his bed and saw the bird hopping off the side to follow him.

“You know you can’t come with me.”

The bird looked up at him from his feet. If all if tail feathers were grow out he would look like an ordinary raven now, But he wasn’t completely done growing yet.

Garrett turned to walk up the stairs when suddenly there was an angry screech.

“Stay here ugly!”

The bird still didn’t get the message and gave a few upset squabbles. He turned to look down at the bird and saw him starting to hop his way up the stairs.

“I said stay! Don’t you ever listen?”

Garrett rubbed his head in slight irritation. It was a mistake to let the bird become so attached to him. The other few times he left he had come back and found his bed in disarray or covered in droppings as payback for being left. He may have been small but he was surprisingly destructive and revengeful.

The bird finally joined him at the top of the step and looked up at him eagerly.

“You really want to come?”

There was a confirming croak as the bird shook his wings and hopped onto his foot.

“Fine, but stay inside my hood!”

He reached down and waited for the bird to perch itself on his hand before lifting him up and opening the side of his hood. Once he was comfortably sitting inside Garrett made his way up the steps and climbed out of the window. the bird peeked out of his hood to looked down and made a disagreeing croak.

“You are a bird. You are supposed to like heights.”

The bird retreated back inside his hood some but continued to look down. He made it to the safety of a ledge and took a few moments to let the bird look around. He seemed more comfortable now as he saw other birds soaring through the sky.

“Don’t get any crazy ideas. I don’t think you are ready for that yet.”

He made ready to start moving again, but a sudden yet peaceful gust of wind blew up around them both followed by a strange sensation that rushed over him. A name surfaced in his head. A familiar name. But why was it familiar?

He looked down at the city to try and think of why it sounded familiar, but nothing came to mind. Instead, he got an idea.

“I think I’ll name you Artemus.”

The bird looked at him for a moment before making a content caw.

“Glad you agree.”

With that established, he continued to make the rest of the descent down while the newly named Artemus looked around, now in immense awe rather than fear. It was good that he was liking the heights now. Once he learned how to fly it would make climbing down less tense.

* * *

 

Garrett crawled in through the window and moved over to the shadows while Basso looked through his shelves. He wanted to wait a few minutes before announcing his presence, but there was a screech and Artemus gave him away. Basso gave a surprised shout and spun around.

“Geez! Garrett? Was that you that made that noise?”

Garrett stepped out of the shadows and tried to hold a straight face. Artemus poked his head out and cocked it to the side a bit.

“What’s this now? You? With a bird of your own?”

“Don’t get used to it. I plan to give him to you once he learns to fly.”

Basso gave a cackle.

“You being generous? I’m touched.” Bass chuckled. “I have one already, but maybe I’ll take it off your hands if it shows any sign of being smarter than this useless pile of feathers here. I swear, several times I thought it was going to die from half the shit it eats. I’ve had to start hiding any kind of letter in a drawer now.”

“Are you sure that is a bird and not a goat?”

“Yeah, you just be glad you don’t have to clean up after it. Although uh, I won’t be surprised if you already have to clean up a lot after that one there.”

Garrett remained silent for a moment. He was not going to get into storytelling about cleaning up bird droppings. Time to change the subject.

“Have you got any good jobs this time?”

Basso chuckled and walked over to his desk.

“A few small ones here and there. Ain’t had anything big for a while now. Looks like things are starting to get a bit boring again.”

Garrett gave a smirk.

“I’ll just have to fix that.”

Basso chuckled again and rubbed his hands before opening a drawer at his desk.

“Here, look through these. there might be something of interest in there.”

Garrett took up a few letters and leaned against a shelf as he read their contents. Someone needed a pair of earrings stolen from an undeserving friend. Another wanted someone to steal- Wait. Did that just say a pair of women's underclothes? Definitely not that one. He only tossed the letter to the ground and began reading another.

****  
  


Basso fussed.

“You know there is a shelf right behind you. It wouldn’t kill ya to put it there instead of make me have to bend over to pick it up later.”

Garrett only ignored him and continued to read the rest of the letters. This one sounded interesting enough. Steal a small sculpture and a painting from a local art collector. He might be able to find a few things for himself. He placed the other letters back on the desk and stopped a moment before leaving. Artemus already gave him away once. He didn’t need him doing that while on a job. He thought for a few moments and turned to Basso.

“Think you are up to babysitting for a while?”

“Babysitting? You have a kid?”

He glared at Basso before glancing over to Artemus and back to Basso.

“Oh! Right. I should have figured. You never seemed the type to- er I’ll just shut up. Fine, I’ll watch him for a little bit. but if he goes missing, you asked me to babysit.”

Garrett held his hand up to Artemus and he hopped out and perched himself on it. He didn’t seem to know he was about to be left behind until Basso reached out for him. He took a few steps away from him and looked at Garrett. He definitely knew now.

“Come on, I don’t bite!”

Artemus gave an angry snivel at Basso before he tried to hop back into Garrett’s hood. Garrett tried to reach in and pull him back out, but he was rewarded with a furious caw in his ear.

“Oy! That one even hurt my ears!” Basso retorted while back away.

Garrett gave up and let him stay in his hood. Maybe he could just wait until tomorrow night to do the job when Artemus wasn’t with him.

“Well, am I still gonna try babysitting or are you just gonna try and take him with you?”

“I’ll just head home for tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Alright then. I’ll be here, obviously.”

Basso walked over to the letter Garrett dropped and picked it up. He skimmed over it right quick.

“Oh, now I see why you tossed it.”

He turned to look back at Garrett, but was only met with empty space.

  
“What is it with you people and not using doors?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to my friend Syvelli for helping me out with editing.

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to my friend Syvelli for helping me out with editing.


End file.
